Fast
Forward The Importance of Corporate Culture
“No matter what your business, the only way to generate enduring profits is to begin by building the kind of workplace that attracts, focuses, and keeps talented employees.”
From The Service Profit Chain, by James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser & Leonard Schlesinger
Do you know of anyone who still needs convincing about the importance corporate culture plays in today’s business reality?
Give them this test:
What do these fast forward companies have in common?
AES Corporation; Delta Electronics; Filemaker Software Company;
Motorola; Neovest, Inc.; SCT Corp.; AOL Time-Warner, and Vitesse
Semiconductor
These companies and many more like them are using their corporate culture to recruit new employees! I did a web search on the topic of ‘corporate culture’ recently and while the expected articles and consultants come up, I was amazed by the number of companies that have a web page, which they point prospective employees to. This page extols the firm’s corporate culture and why the firm is an ideal place to work.
Now selling someone on the virtues of working for you is so yesterday that it is taken for granted. But on this particular entry page, the firm is selling its culture that is:
- The most fun workplace since the industrial revolution
- Effective communication and team collaboration
- [Where] we work hard but we also have … fun
- A place where different ideas are not only encouraged, they are actively sought out
- [One of] loyalty between our company and our employees
- [A] balance between our work and our personal lives
- Energetic, fair, supportive, friendly, meritocratic and fun.
There are three reasons why these fast forward firms are using their cultural ideals to recruit and even retain talented people and one critical caveat that can undermine your efforts.
Reason 1 – Seeking a home
There is a whole generation of people that are frustrated:
upset about jobs that leave them without time or energy at the end
of the day; unhappy with micromanaging bosses; dismayed that they
have little or no say in what affects them; and are saddened by
hundreds of broken promises for support, advancement, training or
recognition.
If I had a dollar every time I heard someone say to me, If I could only find a company that really respects me and my abilities, I would start working for them tomorrow, I would probably have enough to buy my own tropical island. The employee is really saying: I want to work for someone who cares about me and sees me as a valued asset and treats me like I am intelligent.
There are uncounted thousands of people who are seeking jobs in firms that have cultures into which they fit, where they feel at home. And the firm who has such a culture will be swamped with applicants who will become dedicated and loyal employees.
Reason 2 – Jaded before you start
There is another generation of employees who see how their
parents have been treated at work and have decided, “Life
is to short to live like that.” This generation is committed
to gaining experiences and in exploring what is “cool and
fun.” These talented individuals see themselves as hired guns
that are working to gain the money and experiences to be able do
what they really want. That might be working for two years and then
hiking the Himalayas the next.
From their experiences in sports and education, they see the value of collaboration and they stay connected by cell phone, any time any place. They believe that the workplace should be one of teaming and connectedness as well. Then they hear horror stories from others like, Where I work no one communicates and it’s a stab someone in the back mentality. They go into every job interview believing that every workplace is flawed – jaded about the culture – and expect you to prove it otherwise. Of course the recent events where executives were fleecing employees and shareholders alike have only crystallized this attitude.
This is why today, firms are extolling their values and their cultures built upon Teamwork, Fun, Innovation, Freedom, Learning and especially INTEGRITY.
Reason 3 – It’s the economy stupid
Due the economic downturn and other changes in the touchstones
of running a profitable business, companies are cutting back on
many of their benefits and perks – travel, training, health
care, day care, pensions and 401K matching. What does that leave
for a company to attract the best and brightest? You guessed right
– their unique culture! [Sensing a theme here?]
Assume that you are looking for a job and three firms are interested in you. Same pay, similar benefits, and promises for future opportunities nearly alike. How do you choose? Today’s applicant will base his decision on two criteria: 1) the person that he will work for, and 2) the feel she has for the corporate culture. Even the first is tied to the second. If the firm allows micromanaging or promotes the manager who ‘abuses’ her employees, it tells volumes about the culture of this firm.
“It is her relationship with her immediate manager that will determine how long she stays and how productive she is while she is there.”
First, Break All the Rules, by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
The Caveat – Don’t promise what you don’t
deliver
While it is great that firms are now using their cultures
as a tool to attract and retain talent, the adage of walk your talk
is truer than ever before. Any firm can state that their culture
is teams working hard while having fun. Companies can claim to reward
innovation and support employee initiative. If you tell me that
you provide me with an atmosphere where I can have balance between
work and home needs, you had better make good on those promises!
I will forever hold you to them.
Culture is the story we act out each day that says who we are. It is not the fancy five-color mission statement hanging on the conference room wall, nor is it the seven core values in high gloss on page one of the employee manual. The real culture of any firm is how employees are treated and decisions are made each and every day. In corporate culture perception is reality. This means if you have even one manager who disempowers her employees or a leader who does not follow policy because he is the boss, that is your true culture.
Still believe that selling people on the greatness of your corporate culture will benefit recruiting? BEWARE: You must be certain that your cultural ideas are being fulfilled each day for every employee BEFORE you place them on your website and include them in your recruiting materials.
People are smart. We know when the emperor is wearing no clothes!